


Never Fade Away

by Darkmoonwriter



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Bonding, Developing Friendships, Gen, Platonic Relationships, Seizures, Short, Short & Sweet, could be shippy if you want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:33:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28220208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkmoonwriter/pseuds/Darkmoonwriter
Summary: After V gets her hands on some vintage Samarui memorabilia, some stuff happens.
Relationships: Johnny Silverhand & Female V, Johnny Silverhand/Female V, Johnny Silverhand/V
Comments: 3
Kudos: 113





	Never Fade Away

V smiled to herself as she admired the homemade record sleeve in her hands; the paper worn from the years. She honestly was surprised she managed to find this old bootleg so easily. It took a single afternoon to figure out what happened to the old Rainbow Cadenza and find the old man’s stall. V was a bit disappointed by Johnny’s lackluster reaction to his number one fan. Then again, it would make sense for a man like Johnny to write off any fan as someone who admired but never truly understood his message. Either way, V made a show of buying practically every record and piece of merchandise he had for sale, then dragging her haul back home to be enjoyed. Johnny materialized on her couch, arms crossed, heavy judgment on his face as she nodded along to the first song. 

“Never thought I’d get you to hear you live and in concert!” V said, turning up the music a few notches. The music made one of the cheap plastic frames on her wall rattle, and she knew if she went any higher her neighbors surely would complain. 

“Oh please, don’t even pretend to like it.” He scoffed, an air of superiority to him as he looked down on her almost in mock pity. The poor child simply didn’t understand true music.

“Okay, I’ll admit, not my first choice, but it’s growing on me! I’ve studied up obviously since you showed up. I swear to god if you gatekeep-”

“Name one of our songs then.” Johnny sneered, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees and learing at V as she sat on the floor in between the couch and the coffee table.

“There it is. I've been preparing for this day...” V took a deep breath in carefully smoothing out her vintage ‘Samurai’ T-shirt. “Never Fade Away is my favorite.” This earned a snort from Johnny. 

“At least you didn’t say ‘Blistering Love’”

“Why? Hate that one?”

“No, it’s just the song that made us big, so of course that’s everyone’s favorite song. I thought you said you did your research?” He raised an eyebrow, V, having been caught in her white lie, turned the music up even louder to distract -- fuck her neighbors. 

“I really feel like smashing the establishment of whatever!” She shouted above the music, despite the fact she didn’t even need to speak out loud for Johnny to hear her. The Rocker hid his amusement well as he sat back on the couch. 

“This one always got the mosh pit raging.” He gestured to the record player as V stood, rocking her head a bit more vigorously to the beat. While she didn’t know the words, she knew the chorus well enough.

“Something something CHIPPIN’ IN!” She cried, strumming on an air guitar. 

“You look like a Grade-A idiot.” Johnny folded his hands behind his head, watching in feigned disinterest as V stepped up onto the couch, jumping and dancing.

V knew full well she looked like a complete buffoon, but she could feel she was close to getting Johnny to crack a smile. Why she was so desperate to see it, she couldn’t pinpoint. Between her goal and the loud music, that was her only focus as she danced. 

“Come ON! Dance, sing- do something, old man! Show me you still have a soul!” 

“I don’t! I’m dead-” Johnny remained unimpressed and V kicked at him, her shoe passing only a few inches in front of his face. 

“Come on man, let’s mosh! Wait-” V stopped her idiotic dancing for a moment to frown. “Shit, you can't mosh with just two people.” 

“Sure you can!” Johnny said easily, vanishing from his spot on the couch. V glanced around, confused until he reappeared next to her, shoving her forward onto the couch. Her yelp was muffled as she face-planted into a pillow. 

It was still strange to feel Johnny ‘touch’ her. She of course knew he wasn’t there, but the human mind was an amazing thing. It certainly made her body feel every sensation, from the feeling of the cold metal of his hand to the physical force of being shoved. 

“You ass!” She cried, but couldn’t be too mad. For once Johnny hadn’t met to actually hurt her. It clearly was as friendly as someone as tough as Johnny was. She looked back at him, pretended to be hurt. 

“Be careful what you wish for, Samurai.” the rocker mocked, watching and V quickly bounced back. 

\----

Surely, V’s neighbors were about to kill her. It had been a few hours since the music started, and it wasn’t letting up. V and Johnny had sat and listened through pretty much all of Johnny’s discography and then some, just talking back and forth through it all. Johnny shared stories from the old days, facts about what it took to write music, and highlights from his tours. V even dared to open up a bit about her childhood. They seemed to bond over the mutual feeling of feeling much bigger than their own skin. Both knew they were meant for greater things and were willing to reach for it. 

V wasn’t sure if it was the late-night, the constant loud music, or the booze settling in her stomach, but she started to feel off. Johnny was talking and laughing, smoking away but she couldn’t focus on anything he said. The music seemed to start coming out garbled from the speakers, the noise providing fuel to her headache. She abruptly stood from the couch, walking a few paces before forgetting where she was going. 

“V, You okay? You’re starting to not look so good.” Johnny commented, only mildly concerned as he took a drag. “I’m sorry, am I boring you?” He demanded as she turned and looked at him, mouth hanging open before she dropped to the floor. “Shit!” Johnny barked, jumping off the couch as V seized violently on her apartment floor. He was powerless to do anything but stand and watch her, the blasting music covering up her choked noises. Johnny knelt on the floor next to her, bending his head to stay in her line of sight. 

“You gotta snap out of it, come on!” He had no idea what to do in this situation. It’s not like he’d ever seen a seizure before. He reached to roll her to her side, but V didn’t respond. Of course, she wouldn’t, or rather she couldn’t. He cursed, punching the floor. He couldn’t stand being helpless, but really, this was all his fault. That chip in V’s head was what was slowly killing her, and what was most likely responsible for this. He couldn’t allow himself to feel guilty, he didn’t choose this, he was just as much of a victim as V. 

After what seemed like far too long, V stilled, gasping and finally rolling to her side. She was still awake, which Johnny assumed was a good sign. He rested on his knees, watching her, and allowed her to catch her breath. The music around them began to rise just before the chorus hit. V mumbled something, but the rocker was skeptical it was even words. When Johnny made no response, she repeated herself, screamed it loudly above the music.

“You’re killing me!” she shrieked, head whipping up to look Johnny in the eye. He was so startled he jumped to his feet. 

“I- What the fuck, V?” He was caught off guard. They were kinda just having a moment back there, before the seizure. Laughing and carrying on like old friends. He had just thought that maybe, maybe he could learn to get along with this girl. 

Any warm feelings V had were gone, replaced by pure rage as she picked herself back up. Shakily she stood, glaring at Johnny. She drew her knife from the holster on her thigh. “Have you lost your goddamn-”

The sound of the knife stabbing into the thick plastic plating of the walls shelf cut him off. V has stabbed her knife just next to his head, effectively cornering him against the wall. If Johnny had a physical body he’d probably be fearing for his life. Instead, however, he was just confused. A swirl of anger grew in his stomach and it took him a moment to realize its sources. He was feeling a bit wounded she would turn on him so fast. He looked down at her, surprised to find V’s head down as she slumped, her grip on the knife practically the only thing keeping her upright. 

“You’re killing me, John, and it’s not fair.” She repeated, forcing her head up to look at him. That’s when he felt it. She felt so confused at that moment, emotional agony radiating off of her as she tried to process just what happened. Of course, she blamed him for it all. She knew he had little guilt over their situation and that’s what pissed her off even more. The seeming lack of empathy from his end was sickening. “I wanna like you...I wanna be your friend.” She stumbled over her words, she must be seriously fucked up. “But you’re killing me.” She whispered the last part, bowing her head again. 

Johnny stared for a few seconds, a bit afraid to make any sudden movements as it might encourage another outburst. He reached out carefully using V’s hand to turn the stereo off, trying not to think too hard over how easy it just was to take control of V’s body now. The sudden silence was jarring as they stood against the wall. V was practically panting, holding back a dam full of shit she still wanted to say. 

Instead of pouring it all out, she carefully raised her arm and placed it on his shoulder. Her brain successfully mimed the shape of his shoulder for her, and just for a moment, she could even feel the warmth of his chest against her forehead as she slumped forward. 

“At least I’m not dying alone.” She offered bitterly, hand finally falling away from the knife. 

“Let’s just… take a breather, yeah?” He offered awkwardly. Carefully he maneuvered V to turn and head towards her bed, the knife left embedded in the wall to be dealt with in the morning. V collapsed onto the mattress, dead tired, but still fighting to stay awake out of pure stubbornness. She shifted to lay her head on her pillow properly, Johnny sitting down on the floor by her side. “You should call someone. That was something major.”

“So they can do what? It’s not like this thing can be stopped… Sure it was a first but it won’t be the last probably.” She was starting to feel a bit more like herself, face pressed into her pillow, staring at the back of Johnny’s head. 

“They could- I don’t know, do something! Jesus, V...” Her self-sacrificing bullshit was starting to get on his nerves. He was about to bitch at her more when she reached out and patted his head. She marveled at the sensation. It just felt so real! She could feel the texture of his hair which was (unsurprisingly) a little rough. 

“Can you feel that?” V asked before adding bluntly, “Also, this is my way of apologizing to you.” 

“Shitty apology.” Johnny scoffed as V continued to bop him on the top of his head. “I can feel it, kinda. It’s...hard to put into words exactly. “ He reached up and gently batted her hand away, taking off his sunglasses and turning to give her a serious look. “...I’m not good with words.” That statement was a lot more loaded than it should have been. 

“You write such great music though.” She offered. 

“There’s a big fuck’n difference between real talk and a song.” 

“I know Johnny, I know.” V finally shut her eyes. “I know.” With that, she fell silent, focusing on trying to get some sleep. Johnny turned back around, resting against the base of her bed. He stared forward, thinking hard as he fiddled with his sunglasses in his hands. 

She called him John. No one was allowed to call him John.

**Author's Note:**

> I was blown away by the response from my last short. Please seem to agree there needs to be more platonic V & Johnny, as such I am willing to provide. I try to frame it in the sense it could be seen as shippy if that's your cup of tea, but I write it in the frame of good old fashioned friendship.


End file.
